May 10, 2026 Wisdom is a Good Thing | Ecclesiastes 7:1-8;9:13-10:20

Today, we will reflect on Ecclesiastes 7:1-8:1; Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20, Wisdom is a Good Thing. These are two passages that reflect on what wisdom looks like, and yet what wisdom looks like in various circumstances can be difficult to figure out. When we live under the sun only, wisdom is often overlooked or even rejected. Wisdom is often disregarded because of who it comes from. Wisdom is a good thing, even if disregarded.

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Ecclesiastes 7:1–8:1; Ecclesiastes 9:13–10:20Wisdom is a Good Thing

These 2 passages are rather long, but are written in a similar way as Solomon writes in the book of Proverbs on the topic of wisdom. Solomon connects a variety of situations and thoughts together to give a wide-ranging vision of what wisdom looks like, often contrasting it with folly and wickedness. Solomon begins by reminding us of the value of a good name, and then how death is a good day since our time of suffering is finished, while birth is only the beginning. There’s a sadness in looking at the word from the perspective of living under the sun. Solomon then says something I thought humorous, “Do not say, “Why are the old days better than these?” He tells us that it’s not wise to ask these kinds of questions, to live in the past rather than in today with an eye to living for the future. We reflected on this a bit last week when looking at how God has place eternity in our hearts and to enjoy today while investing in our children for the future. Jesus also tells us, in a different context, to live for today rather than worrying about tomorrow, for today has enough going on. 

J.A Louder observes, “Wisdom is concerned with the correct ordering of live. Wise action is that which integrates people harmoniously into the order God has created. The rules of life that prescribe how human beings must integrate themselves into that order are the precept of wisdom.” Scripture describes wisdom as living well with God, others, creation, and with ourselves, living according to God’s will. Wisdom is living according to who God created us to be as images of him in his world. Ecclesiastes calls us back to an awareness of God and a fear of God that helps us live within God’s design and plan for creation, and for our lives. Truth Seekers are taught how to study the Bible, how to read it and understand it so they can learn the truth of who God is and how we are saved from our sins and our sinful nature is renewed. Basically, truth seekers are seeking wisdom and going to the right place to find it: Scriptures.

Wisdom traches us how to see the world well, to see it through God’s eyes. Solomon recognizes this in verse 13, “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.” Living wisely is usually developed by living in today rather than the past or too far into the future.

Wisdom sees the world through the eyes of reality, good people often die for being good, while many wicked people prosper and live long lives. Even people who are wise are not always listened to, “wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” Under the sun, there’s a great deal of meaningless, much ‘hevel’ or mist. This is how Solomon has been approaching wisdom in most of Ecclesiastes, by using his independent rational intellect to examine the world. He's studying wisdom itself; what it looks like, how it works. He often uses contrast to examine and describe what wisdom looks like, a common way of expressing how wisdom works in life, something we often find in the book of Proverbs. He’s also looking to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly, and ultimately, he finds it all absurd, craziness. 

Solomon tests everything in order to find a better wisdom, but he can’t find it. He found few wise people, he sees that even though we’ve been created upright, we are easily mislead by schemes, schemes to get rich, power, influence, the desires of our hearts. As Solomon looks at folly, he sees that the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure, extortion turns a wise man into a fool, patience is better than pride, anger sits in the lap of fools, and calls us not to be over-righteous or overwise, do not be over-wicked, avoid extremes. Do not pay attention to every word people say for you have often cursed others yourself, to be careful of the woman who is a snare, or for searching out many schemes for your own profit. He concludes that wisdom is definitely better than folly if we desire a good life, that there is more to gain from wisdom than folly. This may seem like common sense, yet that is really what wisdom is. 

Solomon knows that there will be times of suffering and adversity, there will be times of success and in all times, we are called to live as wise people rather than foolish; to seek out God’s wisdom rather than the wisdom found under the sun. Solomon sees some good coming out of difficult things: death, sorrow, the house of mourning, adversity. Our hearts are often shaped by God through times of struggle over times of blessing. In Jesus’ teaching, especially in the Beatitudes, we see a similar thought developed, that there are some good aspects to suffering here on earth, those who suffer are “blessed,” Matthew 5:3–12, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me….” Times of struggle and suffering can lead us back to following the ways of God as we see in the story of Israel’s falling away from God, only to come back during ties of punishment. Struggle and suffering also shapes our character, as Paul tells us: suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Often in suffering, we experience the presence of God and his grace and glory in us and even through us.

Solomon often talks about death. He didn’t know, as we do after Jesus’ resurrection and the teaching of the New Testament, that people live on beyond death. The hope of the resurrection doesn’t rest in denying death, but in embracing its full scope: it’s a punishment as the result of sin, it’s an enemy, it’s been defeated through Jesus’ death and resurrection. For Solomon, acknowledging the reality of death is the beginning of wisdom as it creates a humbleness in recognizing that in the end, we all meet the same end, at least if you’re looking at life under the sun. This is part of why the church celebrates the sacraments. The sacraments are signs pointing us to Jesus. In our baptism, we acknowledge that in Jesus, the symbol of baptism marks the beginning of the journey of faith as we die to our old selves and are raised up to new life in Jesus; in the Lord’s Supper we recognize that Jesus’ death and resurrection bring new life and that as members of his body, we also participate in his death and resurrection and have eternal life in and through Jesus.

If we’re looking for understanding, we’ll not always find it as we live under the sun since humanity isn’t very rational, we’re easily seduced by Satan. Wisdom’s valuable, wisdom rooted in God and his ways, yet it will seem from our viewpoint that foolishness and wickedness seem to do better. This calls for trusting in God’s wisdom and timing. Living according to God’s way brings peace and good to those around you by how we treat and respond to others, by doing our daily work and toil and enjoying the blessings of each day with our loved ones. 

Wisdom tells us who God is: wisdom is more than knowledge, it sees all of creation and finds God’s fingerprints over all of it. We see God at work in the structure of creation, in the beauty around us, in the moral order that’s consistent across most cultures. Wisdom tells us who we are: when we know God, we can see ourselves in light of his greatness. As Calvin said, the more we know God, the more we know ourselves. Wisdom shows us how glorious it is for God to care for us. We see and hear God’s wisdom in God’s Word: wisdom always begins and ends with God, so we must position ourselves as people willing to listen to God’s Word. 

Wisdom means acting on what we know: wisdom without action is meaningless, lives that show God’s wisdom become strengthened in God’s power. Jesus’ ministry involved a great deal of teaching and offering wisdom to the people. At the end of his sermon on the mount, in Matthew 7:24–25 Jesus tells his listeners, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Wisdom is not of much use if it is not lived out in real life and we have been offered the greatest wisdom in the world in the Bible. Take the Word, read it, study it together, allow its words and guidance to soak deep within your minds, hearts, and souls, and then live out in our world that desperately needs wisdom from above rather than what is being offered up here under the sun.